I was never an extreme couponer, but I did love using them to make my monthly grocery budget go further. Over the past several years though, I have dramatically reduced the number of coupons that I use because couponing was not giving me the quality of food that I wanted to feed my family.
Over the years I have done many diets to help improve my health, but the one that has helped the most was a ketogenic diet- meaning I largely eat a diet that is high in protein, high in good fats (like avocado) and low in carbohydrates. I try as much as possible to influence my families diet in the same way. A while back I learned that as a general rule of thumb, you want to shop for healthy food around the perimeter of the store to avoid all of the processed junk that is found in the isles. I find that holds true in most cases. I have found that coupons tend to be mostly for processed food in those center aisles, or items that I just don’t need or can buy cheaper with generics.
That being said- I will occasionally still look out for awesome deals. Last year I was able to stack Arm and Hammer laundry detergent coupons with a buy 1 get 2 free deal at Rite Aid so I ordered a bunch of coupons from a coupon clipper- I know that the initial bottle was horribly overpriced but I was still able to accumulate a several year supply of laundry detergent for under $40 with that deal and with as often as I did laundry after PB was born, it was well worth it!
My best advice is- If you don’t need it, don’t buy it just because you have a coupon for it. All that ever did for me was clutter up my pantry with items that my family might not have ever eaten.
I love shopping sales, Aldi, Trader Joe’s and buying in bulk as alternatives to coupons. I hope to share some of my non-coupon shopping wins soon.
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